


Flame in the night

by mus



Series: Clan Serclun lore [7]
Category: Flight Rising
Genre: Character Death, Gen, Illegal Activities, Morally Ambiguous Character, Violence, then again are there even actual laws in Sornieth?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2016-11-30
Packaged: 2018-09-03 10:42:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8709250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mus/pseuds/mus
Summary: A peek into Ethae's life from before he joined Clan Serclun.dragon in this story: Ethae





	

A thief. A murderer. Running west in the dark of the night with a little 'souvenir' they no doubt intended to pass onto some underground market of such items. This was not the first case of this sort in the area.

Not that it mattered. This passed as a case of 'acceptable jobs' for Ethae and he would find the runner, as he was paid to do.

He had been tracking the rogue wildclaw for some time. To his benefit, this region was highly populated and he had no need for hiding, unlike his target who had to stay out of sight until they were on the clear. He had had enough intel on the robber's past targets and the layout of the surrounding area to make an educated guess about the routes the runner might be taking. With a pinch of luck in the mix, and he had caught up soon enough by taking the shortest routes. Now he was proceeding with step two.

The runner was heading for the Light-Shadow border, perhaps hoping to confuse potential trackers in the dark realm, that was certainly more of a hassle to navigate than other neighbouring elemental regions. Or maybe they had a contact there. Regardless, Ethae didn't intend to let them get across the border.

The runner had been slowing down, stepping more carefully and taking more time to check their surroundings at regular intervals. But they still hadn't noticed the small dragon hiding in the trees, dashing and gliding from one tree to another as the target wasn't looking.

They came upon a small open. Turning around, the wildclaw raised their wings in a display of challenge.

"I know you're there", they said, voice low, eyes scanning the underbrush and then the foliage above.

Ethae wasn't in those trees anymore. He had slid down a trunk the moment he had seen the clearing, laying low as he had circled around the runner in the tall grass, almost like a snake. Once behind the runner again, he climbed to the trees again, searching for the branch that reached closest to the other dragon.

The shadows flickered around the open, despite there not being a light source that might to cause it.

Of course it had to be a shadowborn.

The nature of his profession meant that usually his targets didn't get the chance to strike. But when they did, he knew better than to rush in when they could potentially deal serious damage. His fire wasn't particularly useful here, but the runner had an advantage in their element. He'd have to be careful.

Making no sound he crept closer to the end of his branch, ready to spring into action at any moment. The moment he would strike from the foliage the target would hear him.

He froze momentarily as the runner turned their head, checking the shade of the forest at their sides. But they didn't turn around completely, instead returning their gaze to where he had been on the opposite side of the open.

"Show yourself."

They took a careful step backwards. Closer to him.

Ethae tensed up.

The runner took another step. And a third one. With the forth they started turning around.

Ethae attacked before they set their foot back down; slingshotting himself from the tree like a spring loaded missile.

The runner saw him midair, and to their credit, they were quick to react. The flickering shadows around them seemed to materialize and leap off the ground, enclosing around Ethae. He spread his wings; the metal ones. He dashed through the mass of shadow, making it though almost unaffected.

Almost. Ethae knew the shadow weakened him considerably, and his sight was near gone. At least he was better off than being one step away from dead.

But he landed exactly where he had intended to. Biting the runner by the neck to secure his grip he took his daggers and cut into the flesh faster than the wildclaw could shake him off. They thrashed and shrieked, and by the sound of it, he hadn't hit the throat too badly. But that didn't matter, as the weapons by themselves weren't the only deadly thing the runner had come in contact with.

There had been one time when Ethae had almost failed. The target had been a plaguerat, a mirror none the less. That one had been able to withstand the serthis poison he had used.

As a result of his miscalculation, the mirror had torn his wings to pieces, but eventually he had managed to burn his opponent to death. Since then Ethae had made sure to use even more powerful toxins on the edges of his weapons, just to be sure to avoid similar situations in the future.

Time would be on his side tonight. He just had to make it out alive.

He coiled around the runner's neck, swinging his wingblades where he could, cutting into the wildclaw's wings and face more than a couple of times, thought likely not causing any serious damage. The shadows tried to gather to swallow them both, but they weren't as effective anymore. The runner had lost focus in panic.

They threw themselves on the ground, smacking the air out of Ethae's lungs in the process.

It was highly uncomfortable. Part of him wanted to struggle against the weight of the larger dragon trying to mush him against the forest floor, but he didn't let go. Instead he stabbed the runner again for good measure.

They struggled for a short while, then started gasping for air, and eventually vent numb.

Once Ethae was sure the wildclaw was dead, he uncoiled himself and pulled himself free from under the corpse. He took a moment to catch his breath and take in the degree of damage the shadow had done.

He didn't have open wounds anywhere, but he'd need a good rest before getting up to anything of this sort again. It was like a part of his fire was extinguished, and with it, a part of him. He knew the feeling would pass but it was deeply unsettling, still. But, it was part of the risks of the job. No point in making a fuss over it.

Once his vision started clearing he inspected the corpse. The runner had a satchel, and opening it he found the item he needed. It was smaller than he had expected, but that perhaps explained why his client had been so unusually emotional over the situation. He tucked it securely away in his own packs and got on the move again. He needed to find a place to rest, preferably not too close to the corpse that would inevitably attract all sorts of unwanted visitors while he slept.

In the morning he would bring the stolen pearl back home.


End file.
